News
Media Release: 17th May 2010
After 10 days of knitting, sewing, laughing, chatting, having fun the Knitterati, locals, volunteers and watchers have indeed made a beautiful tapestry. Come and see the lake, the mountains, cycle race, airport, fish and more spread out before you in a colourful display.
The Finale!! Te Radar knitting
Photo K Williams
Media Release: 10th May 2010
Knitting is Not Really My Thing says Radar
The Knitterati came face to face with Te Radar this morning at Taupo Museum and introduced him to the art of knitting. After a few attempts to knit one, pearl one, Radar gave up and announced knitting was not really his thing. However, he loved the concept and the thinking behind the Knitterati's project to knit the local landscape and encouraged visitors to the museum to give it a try.
If you haven't heard already - Knitterati is an Auckland-based Domestic Craft and Contemporary Art Goup and they're here to knit, knot, crochet and weave some magic. They are hard at work, with the help of visitors, using recycled materials such as recycled plastic bags and t-shirts.
Come along and knit or weave some rows and help make this original creation grow and evolve during Taupo's Erupt Festival.
You will find the Knitterati out the back of the museum next door to the Magpie jewellery exhibition every day this week right through until Sunday afternoon, 16 May, between 10 and 4.30pm.
Media Relaease: 1st May 2010
Art by the Knitterati
Who or what are the Knitterati?
This interactive opportunity running during this year's Erupt Lake Taupo Festival is a little hard to describe - it fits somewhere between mini-exhibition and workshop.
Knitterati are an Auckland-based Domestic Craft and Contemporary Art Goup from Ponsonby's Artstation and they will be knitting, knotting, weaving and crocheting the Taupo landscape using recycled materials.
You will find the Knitterati at work ‘out the back' in a room alongside the art gallery from Saturday 8 May till Sunday 16 May. The group are in town to collaborate, teach, enjoy and share their skills and will put another fresh spin on tradition as they set about making an original creation which will grow with the help of visitors to the museum.
Don't miss this burst of explosive creativity - check out the Magpie jewellery exhibition in the art gallery and then spend a little time helping the Knitterati.
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Media Release: 19 April 2010
How do artists respond to the Taupo environment?
A group of four friends - who all attended art school in Sydney - have been making spontaneous and temporary artworks in response to ‘this place'.
Julie McDonnell, Angela Femia, Julie Card and Carolyn Hunter have had a madly creative time using found objects like kowhai seeds, plastic bags, bark and assorted items collected from Lake Taupo beaches and other natural environments. They've temporarily ‘decorated' trees, the Ora Garden and the countryside with their interesting sculptural pieces - all of which were not designed to last!
Dozens of delightful and interesting photos can be viewed on the Community Wall at Taupo Museum for the next few weeks in an exhibiton called This Place.
Local artist Julie McDonnell, will show a video clip, share some insights and experiences and review the 10 day residency the artists called ‘This Place'. Julie's talk is on at Taupo Museum, this Wednesday, 21 April, at 12 noon. All welcome.
Moo.... 
Line to the Island
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Media Release: 9 March 2010
Honoured: 
Pictured are Dorothy & Phil with Mayor Rick Cooper looking on
WAIORA Community Trust Taupo Inc. celebrated 20 years on Thursday evening at the Ora Garden, Taupo Museum. The celebration included the Mayor honouring Phil Parker, chairman Dorothy Westerman, deputy chairwoman for 20 years of service to the trust. Both have been on the board since its inception, Dorothy being the original chair from 1989 to 1996, then Phil from 1996 to present. They were each presented a painting of Waiora House. The trust was established in September 1989 to govern the Waiora House complex which currently houses 18 social service organisations with low cost accommodation.
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Media Release: 18 February 2010
No Ordinary Piece Of Wood
One of 16 historic flagstaff pieces on display at the Russell Museum during this year’s Treaty of Waitangi commemorations is on loan from the Taupo Museum. The other fragments were sourced from the collections of Auckland Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, Coromandel Museum and the Waitangi National Trust. Last year, the Russell Museum’s Russell Centennial Trust purchased a 14 centimetre long block of Baltic Pine, for an undisclosed amount at auction, and this is also on display. There are also several other pieces on loan from whanau and hapu collections.
The pieces on display at Russell are believed to be from flagstaffs chopped down to express Maori dissatisfaction with British rule by Nga Puhi warrior Hone Heke and his followers in the mid 1840s. At the time, the Union Jack, a symbol of British authority, represented a tantalising target flying on a prominent hill in the settlement of Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands. In the space of six months Heke and his men cut down four flagstaffs, on four separate occasions, to show they meant business. After the fourth incident in March 1845, the town of Kororareka was sacked and burned and the townspeople evacuated to Auckland. Heke’s deeds earned him a great deal of notoriety and threw the district into a state of alarm, with many settlers believing he would attack Auckland next. War followed in and around the Bay of Islands and not surprisingly this period is sometimes called the Flagstaff War. 
This fascinating relic was donated by Taupo resident Mr L Bussau when the museum was set up in 1979. Taupo Museum manager Karen Williams says the collection records do not show how Mr Bussau came by this historic souvenir. “It is simply marked with an old label that reads: ‘A piece of the flagstaff cut down by Heke in 1840’.” “When ‘Pou Taharua : The Flagstaff Exhibition’ closes at the Russell Museum in mid March, ‘our’ Baltic Pine flagstaff fragment will be returned to Taupo where it will go on display for locals and visitors alike,” said Ms Williams.
Karen Williams, Taupo Museum - February 2010
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Media Release: 18 February 2010
A woodland sprite ‘dressed’ only in Kiwiana body art designs was in residence at Taupo Museum’s 100% Pure New Zealand Ora Garden of Wellbeing yesterday.
The ‘sprite’, well known New Zealand bodybuilder Ali Gascoine, was painted at the museum as part of a week of workshops and demonstrations being held in the lead up to the New Zealand Festival of Body Art opening this Friday evening in Taupo. Ali was expertly painted by Nicole Heydenrijk, one of the founders of Wellington’s ‘Body FX’ a company specialising in body and face art, makeup and special effects prosthetics. Nicole has many years experience in the industry and has won numerous awards for her artistic and colourful designs in national competitions as well as on the world stage. Visitors to Taupo Museum were fascinated to see the designs evolve as Ali was painted during the day. Nicole worked in the art gallery with a backdrop of stunning photos from the 2009 New Zealand Body Art Awards. This exhibition called ‘Walking Art’ by Auckland photographer Gino Demeer is on at the museum until 9 March. The Grand Opening for the Festival of Body Art is on at Taupo’s Unison Amphitheatre, in Riverside Park this Friday, 19 February, at 6pm with a free evening of entertainment. The theme for the 2010 festival is Maori Myths and Legends. A busy round of events and activities throughout the weekend is planned designed to introduce people to the amazing world of body art. A Youth Town body art family competition and picnic event is planned for Sunday.
Kiwi and Koru were all part of the fascinating body art design worn by Ali Gascoine in the award-winning Ora Garden at Taupo Museum this week.